


Hidden Hearts

by sunflowerbright



Series: International Women's Day 2012 [7]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, hinted pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2013-01-29
Packaged: 2017-11-27 10:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowerbright/pseuds/sunflowerbright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I offer you all of time and space,' he quietly said."And of course you're going to take it." In where the Doctor visits a familiar planet and Donna's comfort isn't quite enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for captaintish for International Women's Day 2012. She wanted Rose/Doctor, penguins and angst

It takes her three hours to go over the entire zoo looking for him, and she’s about ready to kill him when she sees him sitting by the penguins on a bench, hands folded and shoulder slumped.

She doesn’t kill him, of course, he’s her ride, but Donna is still ready to shout profanities until he apologizes for disappearing like that and maybe a good slap is in order as well…

That is until she sees his face.

That face always seems to drain the fight out of her.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, sitting down. He smiles, as if knowing she would ask that.

“Nothing.”

“The penguins not to your tastes?”

“It’s not the penguins.”

“I figured that, you dumbo,” she huffs, fighting the urge to smack him on the head. “So what is it?”

He opens his mouth and then closes it again, the minutes stretching out between them like leagues of the sea, miles on a road that goes on forever.

“I should take you home,” he says and she knows immediately from his tone that he isn’t ordering her to go, that he isn’t kicking her out, that he is merely putting it out there, offering it up, telling her about her choices.

“What brought this on?” she asks, because surely it isn’t the penguins.

“Nothing,” he says. “Nothing much,” he’s holding something in his hand, twirling it slightly, but she can’t see what it is. “I just…” he stops himself, staring straight ahead.

“I’m not safe,” he says.

“I know that.”

“You don’t,” he interrupts. “I’m not just talking about… about your safety. I’m talking about how it’s my fault. How I… I _lure y_ ou in _,”_ he laughs himself at the last sentence and Donna rolls her eyes.

“No, you didn’t,” she says.

“Yes, Donna, I did,” he interrupts. “You can’t… I mean, how can you resist? I offer you all of time and space, and of course you’re going to take it.”

“I said no at first, remember?”

He lets out a bitter laugh at that. “But so did she.”

“Who?” Donna asks, before realizing. “Rose?”

“We should be getting back,” he stands up, not answering her question.

“What are you holding?” she stubbornly keeps on prying, standing up beside him. “Is that a cell-phone?”

He looks down at it, frowning. “Yes,” he says. “It’s just a cell-phone. It’s an old model. Nevermind.”

His words and tone clearly convey that the subject is closed. He throws it in a trashcan as they walk ahead in silence and it is one of the first and only times that Donna really doesn’t know what to say to make him forget about it. She can’t help him heal, because she doesn’t understand.

“You liked seeing Raxacoricofallapatorius, then?” he asks as they step back inside the TARDIS, and Donna smiles lightly at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”


End file.
